Criminal Minds: The Power of Family
by Bad Wolf and Timelords
Summary: A pair of siblings are assaulted and the BAU team get caught in the mess. Although, things start to get a little personal for Aaron Hotchner. Reviews Appreciated!


"I'm serious though Brett! Kyle honestly thought he was being expelled, the look on his face was almost as priceless as the look on our teachers face when he said it!" a teenage, brunette girl shrieked with laugher. The man beside her who she had called Brett, laughed with her.

"I bet he did fall for it Ana, with the person on the phone being one of the vice principals. I'm surprised they even decided to make it a joke sis." Brett commented. His sister looked at him slightly amused.

"Miss isn't that bad you know," Ana chided slightly, shaking her brown hair to the side, blonde streaks flashed in the sun light as the breeze blew about. "Anyway how was your class Mr. University?" she giggled, finding it hard still to believe her brother was in university. Brett laughed at Ana's poor joke, pushing her lightly in the shoulder.

"Absolutely fine." he promised, his blue eyes sparkling as her watched his sisters face fall in disappointment with no detail. The wind blew hard through the hedge across the street from the deserted street corner the pair stood on as they waited to cross the road, and as they waited for the cars to pass by, neither one of them heard the quiet clicks. Once it seemed no more cars were coming, both siblings shouldered their backpacks and took a step towards the curb. A shot rang out through the streets and suddenly Brett was on the ground groaning in pain while Ana stood above him, screaming in terror as she watched the blood gush out of her brothers left knee.

Still slightly incapacitated by the pain Brett managed to lift his head and stare at his sister, his eyes piercing. "Ana! Get out of here, now!" when she didn't move he yelled again, "Ana, RUN!" she didn't need to be told a third time. Dropping her bag Ana ran towards the grove of trees and the nearby lake without looking back, only focusing on finding a place to hide, just like Brett would want. In just 10 seconds, it was over just as quickly as it had started.

* * *

They all sat in one vehicle as they returned from yet another mission, no one spoke as Agent Rossi drove the suburban down the neighborhood streets. The team leader, Aaron Hotchner, sat in the front with Rossi, thinking hard until a gunshot followed by a scream rang through the streets, catching everyone off guard. Derek Morgan leaned forward from his seat in the back pointing to the left hand turn; his dark skin gleamed in the light that shone into the vehicle.

"It came from over there!" he said.

Rossi nodded as he turned the vehicle sharply around the corner. "I know!" the suburban's sirens screamed as they were switched on along with the flashing blue and red lights.

From the back, agent Prentiss moaned quietly as she loaded her gun. "Things just keep happening don't they?" she asked, more or less to herself. Beside her, JJ did the same with her own gun while nodding in agreement. As the truck continued down the road for a couple of meters, the team saw a young dark haired man lying on the ground in an awkward position, dark blood pooling onto the cement, the bushes a few feet away rustled violently as Reid caught a glimpse of a dark shadow disappeared through them. Bringing the vehicle to a stop, a majority of the team got out of the vehicle, except for Hotchner and supervisory agent Spencer Reid.

"Rossi, go check on him, everyone else keep guard, the shooter still may be around. I'll call 911." Hotch ordered, and seeing Reid was still in the back, turned to look at him saying "Reid, go with Rossi to see if that man is alright." Reid nodded and exited the car. Hotch watched the young man on the ground as he waited for an answer on the phone, he looked like he was in his early 20's, and he seemed very familiar, it wasn't... no, it couldn't be.

Rossi knelt over the man, checking for a pulse on his neck and tapping on his face, trying to keep the person conscious. "Hey! Can you hear me? My name is agent Rossi, help is on the way you hear me?" he called, the man's shockingly blue eyes opened. Waving Reid over, he said "Reid, keep this guy talking, we need him conscious for when the paramedics come." Reid nodded.

"Can you hear me?" the man nodded weakly. Reid breathed a sigh of relief before continuing on. "My name is Spencer Reid, what's your name?" the man below him mumbled something, but tried a second time when he couldn't speak properly the first time.

"Brett..." Brett breathed heavily. Reid nodded above him, but spying a purple backpack strewn a couple feet away it caught his attention.

Thinking back to the shadowy figure only he had seemed to notice, Reid asked "Uh, Brett? Was anyone with you when you were shot?"

Brett groaned in pain as Rossi moved his leg to see the wound better. " My sister."

"Where is she?"

"I told her to run, to get out of here so she wouldn't be shot like me." Brett's breathing got heavier. Reid nodded again.

"I never got your last name, what's your last name Brett?"

Brett screamed in pain as his leg was examined before replying breathlessly, "Hotchner."

Both Rossi and Reid stared at him in shock, Spencer leaned back, shock filling his face as it gradually took Rossi's. "Ho-tch!" Reid called loudly, moving his gaze from Brett's face to look at where Hotch stood by the passenger door of the truck, talking on the phone. Hanging up, Hotch walked towards a very shocked Rossi and Reid.

"What is it?" he called as he walked to the three on the ground, Reid swallowed, unsure of what to say. Rossi beat him to it.

"This kid says his name is Brett Hotchner." he nodded towards a broken Brett. Hotch's stomach felt like a weight and running towards them he dropped to his knees, leaning over Brett.

"Brett! Are you alright?" he called, pure concern and fright overtaking his facial expression. Morgan watched from a distance carefully, he had heard what Rossi had said, as did everyone else, was this Brett kid related to their leader?

Brett mumbled as he struggled to keep his eyes open, which were searching for Hotchs'. "Uncle Aaron?" he moaned, his hand groped the ground blindly. Rossi and Reid looked shocked at each other while Hotch took Brett's hand and squeezing it tightly, said lowly:

"It's ok Brett; you're going to get through this you'll be alright."

Reid got up off the ground, and picking the purple bag up, he cleared his throat and held the bag up for Hotch to see. "Hotch; he said someone was with him when he was shot, his sister?" Hotch wasn't able to keep a straight face as he studied the bag, eyes bulging he looked around surprisingly worried.

"Brett, Ana was with you? Where is she?" Hotch's voice was hoarse. The team was shocked; they hadn't seen their leader this shaken up since Haley was tricked by the Reaper. As police and ambulance sirens sounded in the distance, Brett weakly brought a trembling finger above his head and pointed to the brush.

"I told her to run." he whispered, before his head dropped to the pavement.

Looking up towards where Brett pointed, Hotchner loaded his gun and got up, making his way to the brush. As he did so, he called out to the others. "Rossi, Reid, you two are with me, everyone else stay here and wait for reinforcements. JJ, keep Brett conscious." once breaking through the bushes, the three agents came face to face with a picturesque lake with pine trees lining the opposite shore and house sat back on to the area. Seeing boat houses in different groves of trees, Hotch lead the other two towards the sheds. "We'll each take sheds, and be careful; Ana may be slightly skittish at the sight of our guns. Call for me if you find her; also, keep an eye out for another armed person. Whoever shot Brett may still be around." bringing their guns up to the ready, the three split up, but Rossi paused and lowered his arm a little.

"Hotch," he said, Hotchner turned around, "are these two kids really related to you?" Hotch nodded.

"Brett and Ana are my nephew and niece."

Rossi smiled encouraging at his leader, "Don't worry Hotch, if they're anything like their uncle they'll be smart and know how to pull through this." Hotch nodded before walking towards a green shed farther down the lake. While Rossi made his way towards a green shed next to the one Hotch was headed to, Reid carefully studied his surroundings. Spotting a slight indentation in the damp earth by a willow, leaning over the spot Reid could tell that someone had run through here very quickly, and whoever it was were wearing Converse All-Stars. The prints from the bottoms of the shoes were easily recognizable to him because he himself wore Converse.

Following the way the prints were pointing, saw that whoever it was seemed to have run into the red shed slightly hidden under the willow, its door swung slightly creaking in the breeze. Raising his gun, Reid walked carefully to the shed and paused for a moment at the door before entering. Tip toeing inside, he took in the sight of canoes, benches, and nets strewn around the shelves bursting with random bits of metal that lined the walls. Something in the room was out of place... Aside from the fresh footprints in the stirred up dust on the floor, the first place he was going to look was the white tips of a pair of Converses peeking out from behind a work table one of the canoes lay on top of.

Going around the canoe carefully, he saw the white shoe tips were attached to a teen girl with brown hair, and despite hugging her knees to her chest, Reid had to say the girl was at least 5'5 in height, at age 16 the most. Ana stared at Reid terrified, her brown eyes widened as they fixed themselves wildly on the gun he held. As he moved towards Ana, she began to scootch backwards a few cm before hitting the work bench behind her, then whining in terror as Reid moved closer.

Taking a hand off his gun, he raised it towards her in a gesture of peace yet keeping the gun at the ready. His own eyes widened as he maintained a soft expression. "Ana? I'm Spencer Reid, I'm with the FBI, we're here to help." he said softly, still inching forward. Ana's lips moved silently, mouthing the letters FBI as she stared Reid straight in the eye. "It's going to be ok Ana, paramedics and police are tending to Brett as we speak. He should be fine; I was talking to him earlier. You can trust me I promise."

Still maintaining her position, Ana continued to study Reid, her gaze never leaving his. "Brett's okay?" she asked in a small shaky voice, Reid nodded. "You're with the FBI?" she asked, her voice slightly penetrating. Again Reid nodded as he put his gun back in its holster.

"I promise you're safe now, let's get you to the ambulance, you must be overwhelmed with shock." his voice still remained soft, he did not want to frighten her anymore, the gun in his hand alone had been terrifying enough for her. Seeming as though Ana wasn't going to move any time soon, Reid bent down and scooped her off the floor. Ana never objected, still frozen in fear and paranoid in Reid's arms. As they made their way out of the boat shed, Reid shouted out as they walked into the light.

"Hotch! I got her!" he shouted toward the edge of the trees branches that they walked under. Ana's head perked up when Reid called out.

"Uncle Aaron?" she breathed, relaxing a fraction in Reid's arms.

From the edge of the hanging branches of leaves, Hotch stood with Rossi and police officer talking, once Hotch's name was called out, three heads swiveled to look in the pair's direction, seeing her uncle feet away from her Ana completely relaxed into Reid's arms. Relief swept over Hotch's face as he paused for a moment before running towards Reid and taking Ana from him, hugging his niece in his arms as close as his bullet proof vest would allow. Wrapping her arms around her uncles' neck, Ana snuggled her face into the vest she was pressed against, and as they made their way towards the ambulance she whispered: "Thanks Uncle Aaron."

Hotch laughed as they walked along, "You're getting taller, shouldn't you be carrying me?" he joked quietly, Ana shrieked with laughter while slapping her uncle in the chest.

"No way! Nice try though." she grinned up at Aaron, he smiled a little back.

As they got closer to the ambulance, the crowd near the doors parted to reveal a bandaged Brett with JJ standing near his head. Looking up towards the oncoming pair, Brett's eyes grew wide in worry and relief as he watched his sister being carried towards him by their uncle. "Ana!" he shouted before wincing in pain, JJ placed a hand on his chest, murmuring to him quietly while he nodded in understanding.

On the edge of the crowd, Hotch called towards a paramedic, let's get a stretcher for her." he shifted Ana's weight in his arms, trying to make a point, paramedics nodded in acknowledgment before working to get another stretcher from the vehicle. Ana looked up at Aaron, making a face before speaking.

"Uncle Aaron, I'm fine. I don't need a stretcher, I am absolutely fine."

Never looking at her as they walked through the crowd to the waiting stretcher, Hotch's eyes were hard as he replied. "You're in shock Ana, you need to be looked over." as Ana opened her mouth to rebuttal his statement, he looked her in the eye sternly. "Listen young lady, I'm in a position of authority, and I say you are going to the hospital with your brother to be checked over." Even as he set the girl down and sitting down next to her, they both stared at each other square in the eye, neither of them wanting to give in. Ana's lip trembled slightly, and her eyes twitched away for the slightest of a second. From where Morgan stood watching the pair, he knew by instinct that Hotch was going to win this one, he usually did.

Rolling her eyes and head as she sighed, Ana admitted defeat. "Fine, but I'm not going to go quietly." Hotch smiled and laughed a little when she said this.

"I never really thought you would, knowing you of course Ana. What is it you want?"

"A word with you alone," she paused looking around at the dozens of paramedics and police officers, as well as eyeing the rest of her uncles' team with a soft look in her eyes. "Well... As alone as we can get." Ana admitted.

Aaron nodded a little, placing a hand on her knee understandingly as he stood up. "Alright." he promised quietly. Looking towards the rest of the team he called out to them.

"Morgan, I'm going with these two to the hospital to make sure they're alright. Rossi go explain the situation to Strauss so we don't have problems, we might just have a new case on our hands. I'll meet you all later at the hospital."

Everyone nodded in before Hotch climbed into the ambulance after his nephew and niece were loaded in. As the doors closed and the vehicle drove off, the team made its own way back to their Suburban, thinking over the recent events. As they continued to walk, Rossi spoke what seemed to be on everyone's mind.

"Well this ought to be fun."

* * *

**A/N: I see Cameron Bright in the roll of Brett. **


End file.
